Friday, Bella skipped practice. It was weird and she didn't let anyone know why. Kate had looked questioningly to JP who had shrugged and offered to go to their dorm to see if she was there but said she hadn't seen her. Kate had shook her head and gotten practice started before texting Bella's phone to see if she'd answer.
She didn't answer and never showed up either. Kate figured maybe she was running late, but at the halfway mark, she realized that Bella had truly skipped.
As practice ended and the girls were leaving, Kate overheard JP telling her boyfriend where to pick her up. She supposed the girl was leaving now and decided she could head over to the dorms to check on her suddenly absent mate.
0~0~0
Bella stumbled towards the door when the knocking started. She nearly tripped and fell as she made her way there. Her head pounded, her eyes were blurry, her throat was sore, and her body ached. She'd been sleeping. She'd finally fallen asleep after her class, intent on taking a nap and getting up to go to practice when her alarm went off.
She opened the door and looked up into Kate's beyond concerned face. The vampire quickly moved into Bella's dorm and had to catch the human when she attempted to step back but nearly fell, "Darling, what is going on?" Kate asked as she supported Bella's weight.
"I was just about to leave for practice," Bella slurred and Kate furrowed her eyebrows.
"Bella, practice is over," She said and watched the brunette for a reaction. It took a while, but she finally realized what Kate had said and her face was confused, "Baby, are you okay?" She asked though she already knew the answer. Her human was definitely hotter to the touch than usual.
"Just peachy," Bella answered against Kate's shoulder, "Ooh, you're cold," She said as she tried to get closer to Kate, which wasn't physically possible at this point.
"Bella, darling, I need you to tell me if this is a thing humans consider normal or if I need to take you to the hospital," Kate said and was as close to freaking out as she had ever been as a vampire. Bella just shrugged and nearly fell again, prompting Kate to just scoop her up and carry her over to the couch. She placed her mate down on the couch and stood over her to watch her for a minute. "Shit."
She pulled out her phone and wrenched a hand through her hair before dialing Tanya. "Getting laid didn't go as planned?" Her sister deadpanned into the phone. Of course, they'd overheard a conversation that she'd had on the phone last night. She chose to ignore her sister in favor of fixing her mate.
"Tanya, she's sick," She said. She hadn't realized how close to hysterical she actually was until she heard her voice. She stepped out of the room so that Bella wouldn't hear her like this.
"What do you mean she's sick?" Tanya asked and her playful tone from just moments ago was long gone.
"I mean she didn't come to practice, and she didn't tell anyone anything, so I went to check on her and she's nearly delirious, and hot, and stumbling, and pale, and not making much sense, and thought that it was still 2 o'clock." She finished and peeked back in on her mate who seemed to just be sleeping now.
"Umm, Katrina, humans have to go to the hospital for things like that. What's her temperature?"
"How would I know?" She nearly exclaimed and if she could have cried, she would be.
"Kate, you have got to calm down for a minute. Check her bathroom. See if she has a thermometer," Kate nodded in response and made her way into Bella's bathroom. She rooted through a few draws before opening the medicine cabinet and locating a thermometer.
"Got it," She mumbled. She walked back over to Bella, bent down, and coaxed her into allowing her to take her temperature.
"Yeah, she sounds like something's up," Tanya mumbled after hearing Bella protest the whole ordeal.
"103.2… Is that bad?" Kate asked. Suddenly she didn't know anything. She couldn't remember anything. Her head felt fuzzy and her panic was really settling in.
"Katrina!" Tanya exclaimed. Kate knew.
